Pop-gun.



A. KLEINFELDT.

POP GUN.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 11, I916.

INVENTOR a/J Tuu fgw aw 7 1 9 1 an IDI.

. e F d e t n ,w a P ARTHUR KLEINFELDT, OF HOBOKEN', NEW JERSEY.

POP-GUN.

To all wkoin, it may concern Be it known that I, ARTHUR \KLEINFELDT,

a citizen of the United States, residing in Hoboken, in the county of Hudson, in the State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Pop-Guns, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part thereof.

Pop-guns as heretofore constructed have usually been designed for the discharge of specially prepared plugs, such as corks, which were intended to be recovered after each discharge, and, oftentimes, were attached to the gun itself by a string. Such pop-guns have not been entirely satisfactory as toys since their usefulness is so brief. because of the loss of the plugs or their dis.- tortion to a point where the air cannot be compressed sufficiently to discharge the plug or, if discharged, to give a startling report which is always to be associated with a pop- The present invention has for its object to provide a pop-gun which is intended to discharge plugs of any available raw material, particularly juicy fruits or vegetables, and which shall be of such form as to permit the plugs to be cut of the required diameter directly from the raw slab and, at the same time, placed in position in the gun for operation.

A further object is to provide a gun which shall compress the plug within the barrel more and more snugly as the pressure of the air therein is increased, by movement of the plug'along the barrel.

Another object is to include in the improved gun a bead adjacent the mouth of the'gun and on the inner surface of the barrel, which bead, being of relatively con.- tracted diameter, shall serve to retard. the

ejection of the plug up to the moment when I it is discharged, with the result that the plug necessarily leaves the barrel at a maximum velocity and under a relatively high air pressure, so that not only is the plug projected a great distance with some degree of accuracy but a loud and startling report accompanies its discharge.

A further general object is to provide a Specification of Letters Patent.

pop-gun which shall be simple in construction, inexpensive to manufacture, and independent in use of the usual adjuncts, such as special plugs, springs,-etc.

The invention will be described in greater detail in connection with the illustrated embodiment in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a view showing the improved barrel in longitudinal section with the plugs of raw material in position for operation of the plunger and showing the plunger in perspective in operative relation to the rear plug. Fig. 2 is a view in perspective of a Patented Feb. 6, 391?.

Application filed February 11, 1916. Serial No. 77,552.

slab of raw material indicating the facility with which plugs for the improved gun may be cut therefrom.

The invention is not concerned particularly with the type of plunger employed for pressing the plugs through the barrel of the improved gun, except that it should be noted that the invention does not contemplate the use of a plunger which shall, of .itself, serve in any way to compress the air within the barrel and thereby bring about the ejection of the plugs. As shown in Fig. 1, the plunger may be a plain cylindrical rod a having at one end a suitable handle a, to be gras ed by the user and having its other end pre erably squared, as at (1 to afford a maximum abutting surface between the end of the rod and the plug to be pushed through the barrel. The barrel of the improved pop-gun, indicated at b, is formed as a tapered cylindrical tube, the discharge end of which is of lesser diameter than the other end into which the end of the plunger a is introduced. The end ofgreater diameter is expanded, somewhat abruptly, as at 6 to form a shoulder and a truly cylindrical chamber 6 the edge 6' of which, constituting the rim of the barrel, is beveled or shaped as an annular cutting edge. In the wall of the barrel 6, and at a point not too remote from the end I), isformed an air outlet b for a purpose to be described. This air out- -let is preferably located in the wall-of the cylindrical chamber b. At the discharge end of the barrel b which, it will be remembered, is of smaller diameter than theother end, is formed an internal beadb, Whlch serves as a further restriction to the discharge of the plug, as will appear.

The structural features of the gun having been described, its advantages will be better appreciated in connection with a description of the method of its use.

The slab shown-in Fig. 2 may be supposed to have been sliced from any available and suitable piece of raw materiah'preferably a juicy fruit or vegetable, whereupon a plug 0, suitable 'for ejection from the improved gunb, may be stamped from the slab, as at d, by forcing the enlarged cylindrical chamber 12 through the slab, the stamping or cutting being facilitated by the sharp cutting edge Z). The plug 0, when thus-positioned in the enlarged chamber b fits snugly in said chamber but is of a greater diameter than the diameter of the barrel 6. Accordingly, when the plug is forced from the chamber 6 over the shoulder- 5 into the barrel b, preferably under pressure of the plunger a, it is compressed appreciably and necessarily engages the wall of the barrel with a fit which is air tightv for all ordinary pressures. After the plug has been forced to the muzzle of the barrel and assumes a v position indicated in Fig. 1 with its front face in engagement with the-bead 6 a sec-.

ond plug 6 is stamped from the slab, as at and rests Within the'cylindrical chamber 3 in the position shown in Fig. 1. The stamping of the second plug would naturally have a'tendency to compress the air within the barrel and createa counter pressure which would be objectionable in the stamping and,

indeed, might at times be so great as to prevent the plug e from being introduced into the chamber. Accordingly, the air vent b is provided near the open end of the chamber 6 but between the two plugs 0.21.116. e,

' iniorder that the air between the two plugs may escape readily when the second plug is introduced into the chamber. With the parts in the position shown in Fig. 1, the plug 0 1s ready for discharge. The plug e 1s forced along the chamber 6 until the opening I) is covered and passed -when further movement of the plug 0 starts to compress the air between it and the plug 0. At about this .time, the plug 6 is forced past the shoulder 6 thereby compressing it appreciably and making it more suitable as a plug for the compression of air. It will be evident that the pressure between the two plugs increases as the plug 6 slides along the barrel. Accordingly, provision is madeto increase the tightness of the fit of the plug within the barrel in order that its res stance to the escape ofair may be increased in proportion to the, increase of pressure.

This provision isfound in the taper of the barrel toward the discharge end, whereby scribed, it is possible for the most satisfac-- .tory conditions of operation to be realized automatically in the improved gun in that an enormous air pressuremay be created within the barrel before the missile is discharged. This pressure is not only desirable in order that the plug discharged may be projected a great distance and with some degree of accuracy but, further, because upon the expansion of the air a loud report is assured. The pluck at the instant at which the plugs 0 leaves the muzzle is greatly increased by the retarding action of the bead b on the plug, as will be understood. This pluck determines, to a great extent, the report at the instant of discharge, since a slow ejection of the plug fromlthe barrel would permit the gradual expansion ofthe air and lessen the sound at the instant of its final release. After the plug 0 has been discharged in the manner described, the plug eis pushed along to the end of the barrel and takes the position, under the compressive action of the tapered barrel, which the'ejected plug previously assumed. In order to insure the proper positioning of each plug to be discharged at the muzzle, the plunger a ispreferably of a length just suflicient to extend from the larger end of the barrel to the plug to be discharged, the movement of the inward plunger being arrested conveniently by contact of a shoulder (t -thereon with the edge of the chamber 6 r V 1 In additionto the many advantages of the improved gun, which will be understood from the foregoing description, it is to be noted that this gun is of extremely simple construction and accordingly very inexpensive to manufacture and is so slmple in operation and devoid of many usual and.

larged chamber at'one end to receivethe out losing the many advantages pointed out 1 plug and provided with an air vent between the ends of the gun and adjacent the enlarged end.

2. A pop-gun having a tapered barrel, an

5 enlarged chamber at one end to receive the plug, the edge of the chamber being beveled to form a cutting edge for the punching of the plug from raw materials, an internal bead formed in the barrel near the muzzle,.

and an air vent in the Wall of the cylindrical 10 

